This Guy Claims a Vegan Diet Cured His Colorectal Cancer—But Did It Really?

Rob Mooberry was given just a few weeks to live. His colorectal cancer had reached the critical stage 4 diagnoses, and he was in pain. Chemotherapy, radiation, and invasive surgeries were the doctor’s orders, but after the first round, Mooberry decided his body needed a break.

“…When I finished chemo, the oncologists were saying I would need to do more straight away and I really didn't want to,” Mooberry said in an interview with Daily Mail. “ I needed to heal. That's when I knew I needed to do anything to beat this cancer. I was really willing to try anything to save my life. That's when I went hard-core raw, vegan, superfoods.”

His doctors told him that his attempts to cure cancer with an overhauled, plant-based diet was “naïve,” but Mooberry was just focused on one thing: feeling better. He went vegan, took herbs, and even tried coffee enemas. At his next scan a few months later showed something that shocked everyone: His cancer had shrunk in size by nearly 80 percent. Fast forward almost a year from that scan, and Mooberry’s scans showed almost no evidence of the disease.

Today, Mooberry is celebrating his five-year anniversary of being cancer-free by starting his own cancer charity—the Mu Casa Moo Foundation—and talking about his experience with beating the disease with his diet.

"I’m not standing here on my soap box saying everyone needs to go plant-based and vegan,” he said. "But if you’re going to ask me what worked for me, I’ll tell you: the diet. Whoever is thinking about adopting these practices should research, weigh, and evaluate if this is right for them."

For decades, alternative medicine professionals and patients have heralded the power of plant-based diets. The 2011 documentary Forks Over Knives explored the supposed possibility that plant-based diets can eliminate and control disease and illness; stories about plant-based diets curing brain cancer in college students and chronic pain for everyday Americans are everywhere. In February 2015, the American Cancer Society published its recommendations that cancer survivors follow “prudent diets,” or plant-based diets that are high in fruits, vegetables, and unrefined grains while also low in red and processed meats, refined grains, and sugars.

Sure, a plant-based diet may boost the health of cancer patients—and, well, people in general. But no federal councils or medical associations can tout a vegan diet as a stand-alone cure for cancer. (As we've reported before, you should also be skeptical of so-called "super foods" that allegedly cure cancer.)

In 2014, a group of Irish nutrition and cancer organizations stepped up to quash what they said were inaccurate theories about veganism and cancer. Rather than help cure the disease, Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute chairman Dr. Declan Byrne warned that veganism may actual damage a patient's health further.

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"A vegan eating plan which removes dairy and animal protein from the diet is highly likely to lead to insufficient oral intake of protein and will further exacerbate muscle loss, as well as exposing patients to inadequate levels of many vitamins and minerals vital for health,” Byrne said back in 2014.

Often, individual cures and recovery are reached through multifaceted approaches, so it's difficult to claim a single cure-all. Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery—though mentally and physically taxing—have proven time and time again to be effective. As Mooberry mentioned, each individual should consult with their cancer treatment or health professional team about a plan that works for them.

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